


In All Thy Humors, Or, Why We Like Leonard McCoy

by StellarLibraryLady



Series: Star Trek Incandescent Hearts [10]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Contradictory Characters, DeForest Kelley - Freeform, Epigrams, Gen, Incandescent Hearts (Star Trek Series), Jerry Lewis - Freeform, Martial (Roman Writer), McCoy's Characterization, New Zealand Actors, karl urban - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-04 15:09:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10281818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellarLibraryLady/pseuds/StellarLibraryLady
Summary: Why do we like Leonard McCoy so much?  The reasons are so contradictory.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Esperata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esperata/gifts).



> This is an expansion of a comment I was going to send to Esperata.

Most of us know who he is. Most of us get an instant image of him whenever we hear his name. I will say “most” because probably there are still people out there who either don’t know or simply don’t care to know a fictional guy who means so much to us Star Trek fans and fan fiction writers and/or readers everywhere. We hear the name of Leonard Horatio “Bones” McCoy, and we smile. McCoy is the Chief Medical Officer of the Starship Enterprise and its resident curmudgeon. We know what to expect from him. 

Well, no, we don’t really know what to expect. That’s the fun of it. But we do know that whatever the situation McCoy finds himself in now, he is going to be vocal about it. And if you don’t realize it at first, he certainly will ’mention it to you in passing.’ Make no doubt about it. You will know his opinion. He is the emotional side of Kirk’s character, remember.

Whether it is DeForest Kelley or Karl Urban whose face and figure comes to mind makes no difference. For me, they change back and forth with a kaleidoscopic effect, which shows Urban‘s acting brilliance. Kelley’s portrayal was more urbane and courtly with a side of bulldog bite to it. Urban’s is more roughhouse with a barely contained anger and wildness simmering just beneath the surface. He seems more driven and compelled, and he appears to be his own worst enemy.

Either, any, and all portrayals are ‘right on’ because McCoy is such a contradiction. Irascible, out-spoken, and hot tempered one moment, he can become charming, flirty, and ever the Southern gentleman the next moment. Yet, no matter how he crashes around muttering displeasure, we know that underneath is a steadfast and dedicated person who loves too intensely and gets hurt too deeply. Everything a person like that does is full force. There are no half measures.

I recently left a comment on Esperata’s fic “Can’t Sleep Without…” which is a one hundred word drabble about an incident that happened on an overnight layover by a landing party from the Enterprise. It is a jewel that speaks volumes. I heartily recommend it if you haven’t read it. And if you have, it never hurts to re-read favorites.

In answering my comment, Esperata wrote ”I adore McCoy….” And that got me to thinking about some of my reasons for liking McCoy, also. I kept remembering a poem that I had included in my novel “Toehold to Fame” which is a love song to that incomparable genius, Jerry Lewis. He is a lot like McCoy in that the both of them are larger than life.

In Chapter Eleven of my work (which is posted on this site), I have the son of the central character Gabe Bryson (Jerry Lewis) recite a poem explaining why people stay loyal and love him despite his tendency to run over people and be bossy. Bryson’s character, like McCoy’s character, is irascible, yet warm and overbearing, yet tender hearted.

I was going to share that short poem with just Esperata, and then I decided to post it so that the rest of the McCoy lovers out there could enjoy it, also.

The poem which Gabe Bryson’s son recites is an epigram. An epigram is “a short poem expressing a single idea, that is usually satirical and has a witty ending.” That is a direct quote from my dictionary lookup on my Microsoft Works Word Processor, so I am giving credit where it is due.

The four lines of the poem help explain why we like people, either real or fictional, such as Leonard McCoy. Marcus Valerius Martialis, or, as he has come down through history to be known, Martial, was a Roman epigrammatist living in the first century after Christ. He must have been thinking of people like Leonard McCoy when he wrote:

“In all thy humors, whether grave or mellow,  
Thou’rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow,  
Hast so much wit and mirth and spleen about thee,  
There is no living with thee nor without thee.”

Such contradictions! But maybe that accounts for the fascination.

In my fic ‘If I Give My Heart To You’ (also available on this site), I have Spock illogically attracted to McCoy by the “mere nature of McCoy’s inconsistency.” It was the contradictions in McCoy’s behavior that caught Spock’s attention. He knew, as we know, that the McCoys of this world hear a different drummer, indeed. And march to a different tune than we do. That tune is fascinating for the curious Spock, as it is for us.

If we’re lucky, we all have McCoys in our lives. They frustrate us and anger us, but they certainly make our lives more interesting, if not harrying. And we should be thankful for them, just as Spock and Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew are thankful for their ‘real McCoy.’ (Yeah, I had to do that!)

**Author's Note:**

> Don't you love the way I brazenly work in reminders about my own fics?!  
> I own nothing of Star Trek, its character and/or story lines.


End file.
